Windows 7: "Lite" version for older computers?

3DPiper · 02 Dec 2011

My daughter has a Compaq Presario V2000 that is currently running XP Home.. It has 2G of ram and an 80G hard drive and a 1.6 GHz Mobile AMD Turion™ 64 Processor..

I have high hopes for W8 ultrabooks, but in the meantime is there an upgrade path for these older computers? Is there a W7 or W8 "lite" that will run on this machine, or should I just leave XP on there?

Sedril · 02 Dec 2011

From my experience so far, I've had good results with win 7 on older computers... The only question is making sure the hardware is supported with win 7, meaning can you get all the drivers you need...

I have one older HP that has integrated graphics, that otherwise would run win 7 great, but due to Intel discontinuing support for win 7 on that chipset, I'm forced to leave xp on it...

So basically, I would do a check on the hardware and if you can get all the drivers, I say go for win 7, if not xp it is until you upgrade...

Edit: Another idea, you can always put win 7 on it before purchasing it, as a trial and see how it runs... If you like it, buy it, if not put XP back on... A format and reinstall does wonders for older computers that haven't had it done in a while anyway, so may be worth the effort...

3DPiper · 02 Dec 2011

Also: If I get this CF hard drive adapter, I could throw a 32G/64G compact flash card in there as the boot hard drive and basically have a SSD.. That would breathe some life into it and probably speed things up!

gregrocker · 02 Dec 2011

I have quite a few installs on 10 year old hardware that run fine with 1-2gb RAM and weaker processors.

There's no reason to strip down the OS, just run a Clean Boot by keeping everything out of msconfig>Startup and msconfig>Services (after hiding MS Services) except AV, at System>Adv. Setting>Performance edit Visual Effects of animations, fading, sliding, dragging intact.

You'll also want 32 bit on any less than 4gb RAM.

Sedril · 02 Dec 2011

Interesting, I wonder how fast that CF adapter is.....

3DPiper · 04 Dec 2011

It says it supports DMA and Ultra DMA modes, which should be pretty dang fast..

I ordered one, I'll throw a 400x CF card in there (90M/s read, 60M/s write) and see what I get..!

I would think it would make battery life better, as well..

rraod · 04 Dec 2011

As your system has only 2 GB of ram and 80 GB of HDD, I suggest you can try Windows 7 home premium 32 bit version. The only thing you need to check is the availability of windows 7 drivers for video, sound card and wi-fi adapter.

KazeNoKoe23 · 04 Dec 2011

Judging by that hardware, Windows 7 should run just as well, if not better, than Windows XP.

alphanumeric · 04 Dec 2011

Running the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser should give you a good indication of any hardware that could be a show stopper. Download: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details
If you want to try before you buy so to speak, just leave the product code blank and you can run Windows 7 as a trial for 30 days. Longer if you use the rearm trick.
Extend the Windows 7 Trial from 30 to 120 Days - How-To Geek